The first road stage of the drug-hit Tour de France had an incongruous start when Thomas Lovkvist read the riders' oath, promising a fair and honest race on behalf of the 176-strong peloton on Sunday.
STRASBOURG: The first road stage of the drug-hit Tour de France had an incongruous start when Thomas Lovkvist read the riders' oath, promising a fair and honest race on behalf of the 176-strong peloton on Sunday.
"Speaking on behalf of all my colleagues as the Tour's youngest rider, I undertake to respect sportsmanship and the ethic of the great competition we are going to take part in and to display loyalty in all circumstances. We ask spectators, media representatives, organisers and sponsors to trust us," went the text read by the 22-year-old Swede.
The ceremony, held in the sunshine in Strasbourg''s 12th century Cathedral Square, was not to the liking of all.
"This oath is a bit hypocritical even if it speaks of the true values of sport," said Cofidis team rider David Moncoutie, referring to the doping investigation that led to the withdrawal of several riders on the eve of the prologue.
"I never really believed in those words and I'm not going to start believing in them this year," the Frenchman added.
Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso, two of the contenders to succeed retired seven-times champion Lance Armstrong, were withdrawn from the Tour after being implicated in a doping investigation in Spain.
Seven other riders, including five from the Astana-Wuerth team, pulled out because they were also included in a list provided by Spanish police to an investigating magistrate.
Tour organisers said the show should go on as it did eight years ago when the Festina scandal, which highlighted the use of the blood-boosting drug erythropoietin (EPO) among riders, brought the race and the sport to its knees.
The Tour caravan and its 220 advertising vehicles took to the road, lined with thousands of spectators, for the 184.5-km first stage around Strasbourg on time.
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